It’s been more than a week since I started adding oat bran into my diet to reap its many health virtues.  But each time after I had taken oat bran, my tummy would feel really bloated with flatulence  and constipation would follow the next day!

Initially, I wasn’t really sure that oat bran was the culprit. I thought I had eaten something that caused gas. And I blamed it on the hormones too!   However, after several times, I finally saw the trend and identified the culprit!  That after a meal of oat bran with milk, my stomach would start to balloon up with discomfort. The next day, I would be sitting and waiting on the throne!

Today, I stopped taking oat bran and my stomach feels fine and dandy.  Then I googled ‘oat bran and gas’, ‘oat bran and constipation’ and I was spot on. Indeed oat bran is the culprit to all my stomach discomfort!

Here’s a very interesting article on ‘Healthy eating can make tummy trouble WORSE: Why a high-fibre diet isn’t always the answer for gut problems‘ from the dailymail.co.uk

BRAN

Doctors often advise adding a handful of bran to cereals to help with constipation (defined as going to the loo less than three times a week).

This is because bran is insoluble fibre, meaning it fills the stomach up and stimulates the bowel.

But bran can actually exacerbate some forms of constipation.

‘For constipation, there’s a belief that eating fibre such as bran always helps,’ says Dr Emmanuel.

‘But with slow transit constipation (STC) — a nerve and muscle problem that causes the slow passage of waste through the large intestine — it can cause bloating and excessive gas.’

And for five million of the 12??million people suffering IBS in this country, fibre is one of the worst things, says Peter Whorwell, professor of medicine and gastroenterology at University Hospital of South Manchester.

‘Adding a bulking agent in the form of fibre such as bran gives the bowel even more work to do,’ he says.

‘A significant number of IBS patients might be hyper-reactive to agents that stimulate or irritate the gut, particularly when it comes to bran.

‘It’s wrong to say that eating fibre is healthy when it exacerbates unpleasant symptoms for so many people with IBS.’

Once he has assessed that this is the problem, Professor Whorwell advises his patients to switch to white bread, white pasta, biscuits and cream crackers — anything made from refined white flour, as these don’t contain as much rough fibre.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2249651/Healthy-eating-make-tummy-trouble-WORSE-Why-high-fibre-diet-isnt-answer-gut-problems.html#ixzz3jim6ZkHK